Lexicon

The purpose of this glossary is to explain the most frequently used terms on the Urbantz platform. After reading this article, you should be more familiar with the commonly used terms.

List of terms

• Announcement: an announcement is a set of tasks injected into URBANTZ in order to be assigned to a round.
• API: an API ('Application Programming Interface') allows different systems to communicate with each other. URBANTZ has built a REST API in JSON format. You can use our API to send your tasks to URBANTZ from your IT systems. You can find detailed information about the API here.
• Address book: each platform has an address book where geocoded addresses are saved for later reuse.
• Hub: a hub is a central warehouse or distribution point from which deliveries are organized and dispatched.
• Sender: a sender is the originator of a task. This is a company that is responsible for shipping the recipient's order. If you are a carrier, you can have multiple shippers. If you are a retailer, you can be a shipper yourself.
• Fleet: the fleet is the list of vehicle types available to you for the activities managed in URBANTZ. Attention, the number of vehicles is to be defined in the assignment of the fleet in the parameters of the optimization.
• Flow: A flow is a representation of your business process. This is where you can define your delivery/collection requirements, delivery process, geocoding rules, and field mapping to integrate tasks by file and webhooks.
• Branding: various possibilities to give the platform and notifications the look and feel of the company.
• Item: an item is a physical object to be delivered or collected. It can be a pallet, a package, a bin, etc. An item has a barcode, name, description, etc.
• Messaging: functionality that allows you to send messages (mail/SMS) to people (recipients/deliverers, Platform Manager, etc.) automatically based on triggers, or manually.
• Metadata: Metadata is additional information that you can add to a task, item or round. They are defined according to your specific need.
• Optimization: Optimization is another way to create rounds in Urbantz. To do this, the optimization takes into account multiple constraints (area, teams, capacity,...) and parameters to refine the result (time efficiency, short distance, fewer drivers...).
• Planning: a feature that can be activated on the platforms to allow recipients to schedule their delivery.
• Platform: a platform is your URBANTZ working environment. It will allow you to manage all your activities. Warehouses, shippers, flows, etc., will be defined there. It is on your platform that you can also follow the progress of your logistics operations in real-time.
• Task: a task corresponds to an activity to be carried out at an address at a specific time. It can be a delivery or a collection. A task contains, among other things, an address, a time slot, recipient information, etc. It also contains items.
• Ticketing: a function that allows different users of a platform to communicate with each other about tasks.
• Route: A route is a list of tasks to be carried out by a delivery person in a specific order (sequence).
  Tracking page: this is an internet link that, when opened, allows recipients to know where their package is during the delivery process.
• Restricted areas: places where delivery people are not allowed to pass, such as tunnels, bridges, etc.
• Pickup: Act of collecting a parcel, usually integrated in an existing round
• Delivery: Act of getting a parcel to a final recipient.
• Carrier: A company that transports the item(s) for a sender, being these offline or online companies.

• Sender: A sender is the company that wants to ship something to a recipient.

• Proof of delivery: Digital proof that a parcel was received by the final recipient, it can take the form of a signature or photo. Also use to document the reason for a failed delivery.
• Round: A list of tasks that need to be delivered / picked up by a driver in a specific order or sequence.
• ETA: Estimated Time of Arrival of the parcel to the final recipient.